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Powys County Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Dyfi Osprey project featured in BBC Countryfile episode
BBC's Countryfile paid a visit to the Dyfi Valley in its latest episode and featured a spotlight on two of its famous winged residents. Presenter John Craven visited the Dyfi Osprey Project to learn more about its work and its most successful breeding pair of birds. Ospreys Telyn and Idris, having returned to the Dyfi nest again earlier in 2025, are currently hatching their sixth clutch of eggs and were featured in a segment of the BBC programme. In the episode, which aired on Sunday (May 11), John noted that Ospreys in the UK were especially relevant to him as their reintroduction to the UK in 1972 was the very first story he covered in Newsround. In the programme he said: 'It's hard to imagine now, but just over a century ago these magnificent birds had become extinct in the UK. 'But by the early 1970s they were making something of a comeback because of birds that migrated to the Scottish Highlands from Scandinavia and I remember that really well because the return of the Ospreys was the very first story on the very first edition of Newsround. 'Since then, I've been fortunate enough to follow the story of the Ospreys' incredible revival.' He then visited the observation deck at the Dyfi Osprey Centre, and spoke about the camera constantly monitoring Telyn and Idris while they are at the nest, as well as the thousands of people who devotedly watch the live-streams following the birds journey each season. Centre manager Janine Pannett added: 'It's always a huge sense of excitement and relief to see them come home. 'Normally, Telyn comes first, this year Idris surprised us all and came home nine days early. It was very interesting to watch different behaviour having the male back first. He spent a lot of time rebuilding and reshaping the nest, getting everything ready so that when she did arrive everything looked ship-shape to show that he was ready to breed. 'Generally, people do have a soft spot for Ospreys. Perhaps because they are only fish eating, perhaps because of the romantic nature of the migratory chasing of an endless summer. 'It's so important to get the engagement of the wider world and everyone to feel value to having wildlife be a part of their life. It's so wonderful to share them with absolutely everyone.'
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Soviet spacecraft launched over 50 years ago is heading to Earth
A piece of a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1972 is expected to crash back down to Earth very soon, experts say. The part, which is from the Cosmos 482 probe, was meant to land on the planet it made it into space successfully, the spacecraft wasn't able to complete its journey after something went of the remains of the rocket eventually came back to Earth within the 10 years that one final section, which experts say is the landing capsule or lander module, ended up stuck in space. It's now been there for 53 years. What exactly happened? The part of the spacecraft which was supposed to land on Venus was sent to the super hot planet to carry out scientific measurements, scientist Dr Marco Langbroek from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) explained to Newsround. "The engine of the rocket that launched it stop working too early, so it was left stranded in an orbit around the Earth," he said."It then broke up, with the lander module that was supposed to land on the surface of Venus detaching from the main spacecraft."The main spacecraft, which was large and heavy, burned up in the (Earth's) atmosphere long the lander module kept orbiting the earth." What will happen next? As the landing capsule has been orbiting Earth in space, it has also been steadily falling towards Earth."...Within a few days, it will be so low that it can no longer do a full round around the Earth," Dr Marco told us. It will eventually enter the Earth's atmosphere, slowing down quickly in the process. "It will briefly become very hot, just like a shooting star. It will then fall down to earth, almost vertically," Dr Marco says. He predicts the spacecraft will enter the Earth's atmosphere around the 10 May and that its final speed will be similar to that of "a high-speed train or very fast race car". It's not yet known whether the piece of the spacecraft will survive its journey back to Earth, or whether it'll burn up as it crashes through the planet's atmosphere. But the risk of anyone or anything getting in the way of the plunging lander module is very low. It could hit the ground, or will most likely enter the sea. "You have a higher risk of being hit by lightning once in your life, than being hit by this falling spacecraft," Dr Marco told us. Although it's unlikely the lander will remain intact, it would have been full of instruments from over half a century ago, something which some experts are intrigued by. "It's almost a bit as if a time capsule is falling to Earth," Dr Marco said.
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Is Doctor Who doomed?
The Doctor has fought enemies like the Daleks and Cybermen all through time and space, but the Time Lord may now be facing their greatest threat: viewer apathy in a time of television industry upheaval, as rumours of cancellation and the departure of its leading actor swirl. With this year's series of Doctor Who approaching its midpoint and seeing record low ratings, there is still no sign from the BBC or streaming partner Disney+ if the show has a future beyond May. Showrunner Russell T Davies has insisted that it was always the plan not to commission more episodes until after this season aired in full, but that stance contrasts with his promise of 'annual Doctor Who, no gap years, lots of content, on and on and on', made when he returned to the show in 2023. With nothing in production, it would already be a tight squeeze to have a series ready for the start of 2026. Davies recently told viewers of BBC Newsround: 'I kind of know that the Doctor's reached the status of, like, Robin Hood. Sometimes there might be a pause, and during that pause, the viewers of Newsround now will grow up a few years and start writing stories and they'll bring it back.' If Disney+ decides not to renew its distribution and funding deal, that would leave the BBC with three choices: cast around for a new international streaming partner, go back to making the show in-house on a more constrained budget, or put it on hiatus. This year's season has also been dogged by rumours of a premature exit for the show's leading light, 32-year-old Ncuti Gatwa, who first appeared in the role in 2023. After an acclaimed run in The Importance of Being Earnest in the West End last year, Gatwa is to tread the boards again in 2025. He will star as playwright Christopher Marlowe opposite Edward Bluemel's William Shakespeare in Born With Teeth at London's Wyndham's theatre from mid-August until 1 November. That doesn't suggest the actor expects to be in the Tardis any time soon. Reports of belated reshoots to the current series in February this year have only added to the rumour mill. A Gatwa exit would mean he had appeared in only two series, fewer than any Doctor, with the exception of Christopher Eccleston. However, viewer apathy may be a bigger problem than money or casting. Nowadays, overnight ratings are far from the be-all and end-all, but the second episode of this year's run, Lux, set the unwanted record of lowest overnight rating in the 62-year history of the show at 1.58m. Davies and BBC executives might be buoyed, though, that season opener The Robot Revolution was still the second most viewed BBC show of the day, and gained a huge uplift via streaming, with nearly 75% of views online. Saturday's episode, The Well, bounced back up to 1.9m BBC One viewers. The BBC is confident it is still enough of a draw to screen the series finale in UK cinemas. Taken overall, though, even with changes in viewing habits, those figures suggest the new iteration of Doctor Who, made by Bad Wolf and part-funded by Disney+, has not halted a long-term trend of declining viewing figures. After the final episode of this Doctor Who season airs on 31 May, the only known remaining Whoniverse production is spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea. Co-written by Pete McTighe and Russell T Davies and starring Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the limited series is expected to air in autumn or winter. It runs the risk of being a spin-off from a show that is no longer being made. Doctor Who has survived interruptions and cancellations before. An attempt by BBC bosses to axe it in the mid-80s was converted into an 18-month hiatus. The show's original run eventually came to an end in 1989, and perhaps history is in the process of repeating itself. Fans now regard some of those final Sylvester McCoy stories, such as Remembrance of the Daleks and The Curse of Fenric, as some of the best of the entire series. But by then, few were watching and the writing was on the wall. Maybe, regardless of how good some of the Gatwa episodes have been – Boom, 73 Yards, and Dot and Bubble remain likely to be well regarded by fans for decades – time is simply up for this version of Doctor Who in this television landscape. Without a regular TV series between 1989 and 2005, creativity among fans flourished, with different strands of books, audio stories, comics and webcasts featuring a multitude of different takes on what Doctor Who could be. Some dream of that freedom again, although it is likely the BBC would keep a tighter leash on its franchise IP than it did in the 90s. Whatever format Doctor Who might take in the future, as Davies has implied, it is unlikely we have heard the last of the Time Lord for ever. 'Face-changing alien with a magic box that travels anywhere in time and space' will always remain an irresistible storytelling formula.
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Marathon weekend: Thousands take to London and Manchester
The London and Manchester marathons both take place this weekend with more than 90,000 people running the gruelling 26.2 mile courses through the UK's capital and northern metropolis. Both events are expected to bring in huge crowds of supporters, with friends and family lining the routes. So do you know anyone taking part in either event? If so, let us know in the comments section below and perhaps send us your messages of support - we may even read some on the Newsround bulletin. As well as the main event, the London Marathon weekend will feature the mini marathon. Read on to find out more. What is the London Marathon all about? The London Marathon, which has been taking place for the last 45 years, leads runners through some of England's capital's most iconic landmarks. The course begins at Greenwich Park and ends on The Mall, where runners will cross the finishing line after passing Buckingham mostly flat route takes in Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf and Big are a number of races all going on at the same time, including the elite men's, women's and wheelchair races, plus the mass event where members of the public hope to collectively raise millions of pounds for various charities. Amongst those running for charities, there will also be people hoping to break various world records, including: Fastest marathon in a firefighter's uniform and breathing apparatusFastest marathon dressed in a tentFastest marathon on crutchesIn this year's elite races, there is a whopping £98,000 bonus available to those who manage to break world records. Pre-race wees will help make bread.... Ewww! This year, urine - or wee - from thousands of female participants is set to be captured before the race and turned into fertiliser for wheat estimated 1,000 litres of wee will be collected from special women's urinals placed at the start of the race. Kate Chapman, head of sustainability at London Marathon Events said, "We are delighted that the urine from the urinals can be used for something so positive rather than going to waste." What is the Mini Marathon? On Saturday, school-age children from across the UK will head to central London to take part in the Mini Marathon. The don't have to run the full 26.2 miles - instead they will run or walk one mile (1.6km) for children in reception up to year seven, or 2.6 km (1.6 miles) for those between year four and year 12. They will get the chance to run up The Mall and cross the same iconic finish line as the adults' elite and mass event. Pupils who can't make it to the capital can also take part virtually from their own school. The young people who join in will be following in the speedy footsteps of 2024 Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, who competed in the Mini Marathon when she was a junior athlete. What do we know about the Manchester Marathon? The Manchester Marathon course leads runners through the south of the city and past Man United's Old Trafford football ground. The 2025 edition of the race has a new finish line outside the grand Manchester University building. Much like London, there will be elite races for men, women and wheelchair users. These races also double up as the 2025 England Athletics English Championships so there is prize money on offer for the top finishers. The weather is likely to play a key part in many participant's days - it is forecast to be a warm day so organisers have arranged extra water stations for runners to access.
Daily Mirror
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Where Byker Grove cast are now - addiction, vicious assault, and surprising career moves
Byker Grove made history with its gritty storylines over the course of almost two decades, and much like their characters in the BBC show the real cast have gone on to have very different lives Byker Grove was an after-school essential back in the day, with teens rushing to the TV after Newsround to catch what the cool kids of the Byker youth club were getting up to. The hit BBC show ran from 1989 to 2006, with a jaw-dropping 344 episodes - and stars Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have recently announced that they plan to bring the series back in a long-awaited reboot. The original version of the show followed the members of a youth club in Newcastle, and it didn't hold back from airing hard-hitting and topical storylines. Some people even called for the show to be axed when it showed the first same-sex kiss on children's television, but the BBC stood strong among plenty of support from educators, parents, and LGBT viewers. Alongside the proud moment in TV history, it also covered issues such as drug addiction, teen pregnancy, and tragic death. Many of the kids on the show had huge aspirations to overcome their struggles and find success when they reached the adult world - but what happened to the real kids behind the characters on screen? As Byker Grove looks to be coming back decades later, the Mirror takes a look at what the OG cast is up to now. PJ and Duncan Who could forget the now legendary cautionary tale that was PJ's accidental paintball blinding at the hands of girlfriends Debbie Dobson and Amanda Bewick? The horrifying scenes at the end of series four saw the girls aim and fire at Peter 'PJ' Jenkins (played by Ant) as punishment for flirting with them both - but it just happened to be at the exact moment the lothario chose to take his goggles off. His best mate Duncan Sperring (Dec) hilariously screamed, "He cannae see, man!" - but Duncan wasn't devastated for long, making a move on PJ's girlfriend Debbie when his sidekick left to go to a school for the blind. Their real-life counterparts Ant and Dec were just as close in real life, and even before leaving Byker Grove behind they were already well on their way to world domination, launching their band Groove Matrix and their debut single, Tonight I'm Free. The track made it to number 62 in the charts, and while it was no Mr Blobby, it did lay the pathway for their post-Grove foray into music as the mic-wrecking PJ & Duncan. After classics including If I Give You My Number and Eternal Love, the boys retired their musical alter-egos to focus on TV. SM: TV, Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain's Got Talent and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here made the lads two of the biggest stars in the UK, earning an estimated £30million between them in 2016. It's previously been reported that they have an estimated net worth of approximately £62million each. Not bad for two teenagers who didn't even like each other to begin with. "We didn't particularly like each other at first, I thought he was miserable," Dec previously revealed speaking on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2006. "We've rowed a few times - we're quite competitive," Ant added. Now, however, the boys are all grown up. The duo recently shared that they don't spend as much time together as they used to. Ant, who welcomed his first son in May 2024, admitted to the Sun: "The kids take up a lot of your time, and we rush home to our families to see them when we finish working." Dec, who shares Isla, six, and Jack, two, with his wife Ali, added: "We still meet up on days off to have a game of golf or go out for dinner. We're just not joined at the hip..." Spuggie Part of the original cast, Lyndyann Barrass was just 12 when she joined the show as surly, hormonal teen Kirsty 'Spuggie' Campbell. Despite being one of the Grove's biggest characters, she was written out to go and live with her brother Fraser, leaving Lyndyann devastated. She struggled to find work as an actress, fearing she'd been typecast as "the redhead from 'that Geordie show'." And after a failed stint with a band called Angel, she was subjected to a brutal assault that convinced her to turn her back on fame. "I was beaten unconscious in the street by three strangers who recognised me as Spuggie," she told The Sun. "Thankfully, I wasn't badly injured, but it was the final straw. I decided to quit show business for good." In 1999, the Sunderland-based star married husband Allan and had two kids with him before their split in 2012. As a single mum, she took a job working in a call centre and calculated it would take her two years to earn what her former co-stars Ant and Dec make in just one day. She told The Mirror in 2015: "I'm a newly single parent with two kids. I work in a bank call centre four mornings a week when the kids are in school – I probably earn just over half of their daily salary for a year." However, Lyndyann remains on good terms with the duo, adding: "They haven't changed. They're still the two daftest. They are very grounded and lovely. They don't forget their roots and where they come from." In 2023, it was reported that Lyndyann, who lives in Sunderland, now owns a house cleaning firm called Dusty Springclean. As reported by The Sun, she posted a notice on the company's social media page to inform clients that her hourly rate needed to rise to £14 to make up for the effects of the cost of living crisis. Geoff Most recognised by his epic lamb chops and moustache, youth club leader Geoff Keegan was beloved by all. Geoff's story came to a devastating end when he died in an accidental gas explosion, but his emotional funeral reunited many of the show's big guns - including PJ and Duncan. Thankfully, actor Billy Fane is still very much alive and well, and after his character's tragic demise he went on to appear in panto and the 2000 hit movie Billy Elliot. He's still pals with the Grove kids, and had a whole This Your Life-style segment devoted to him on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. When Ant entered rehab for an addiction to painkillers in 2017, Billy was one of the first to offer his support, describing Ant as a "lovely, hard-working lad". "I was so sorry to hear of the problems and wish him a quick recovery," said Billy. Last year, during an appearance on Loose Women, Billy revealed he'd gone on to train as a teacher for dyslexic adults in his mid-50s - a career path caring Geoff would likely approve of. Billy explained: "I went to teach in a young offenders institution. I then did a Master's degree in Special Educational Needs and Intuitive Learning and the college I was working for had the contract for delivering education in prisons and young offenders insinuations and prisons across the country." Noddy Byker Grove became the first British children's drama to tackle sexuality and coming out when a confused Noddy Fishwick, played by Brett Adams, misread the signs and kissed his best mate Gary Hendrix on the cheek during an outing to the cinema. Gary was furious and marched out, but, despite a public furore, actor Brett and the BBC rightly stood by the storyline. "About a month or two after the episode had aired, I received a letter from a young lad about 15 or 16 saying he was going through the same [thing] as Noddy and if he hadn't watched that episode on that day then he would have continued to think he was the only one going through it," Brett told Attitude magazine in 2014. "He said he honestly felt like dying by suicide but after seeing the show and the helpline number on the end credits, he called, got advice and was now much happier. He'd told his parents and friends who supported him and he'd even managed to find a boyfriend. If my storyline upset 10,000 people but helped one person then I see it as a monumental success." After leaving the show, Brett formed a band called Point Break with co-star David Oliver, who played Marcus. Together with Declan Bennett, they achieved moderate success with hits including Stand Tough and Freakytime. But after that wrapped, Brett is believed to have quit showbiz and to work as a barman at the Haven Holiday Camp in Weymouth. The actor has four children and according to Digital Spy, now works as a manager at the town's Lakeside Bowling Alley. Charlie Donna Air joined the show at age 10 and played ambitious budding journalist Charlie Charlton. Like Ant and Dec, she formed a band with her co-stars, releasing single Love Your Sexy with Jayni Hoy and Vicky Taylor as Byker Groove. She moved to London aged 15 and formed girlband Crush with Jayni but their 1996 singles Jellyhead and Luv'd Up failed to set the charts alight. But they got her spotted by TV execs who landed presenting gigs for MTV, The Big Breakfast and Popstars: The Rivals Extra. Geordie Donna struck up a party pal friendship with All Saints star Natalie Appleton, with the pair living next door to one another, partying with the Primrose Hill Set and cosying up for FHM. However, she rebranded at the ripe old age of 22 after meeting multi-millionaire Damian Aspinall, who was 19 years her senior. Desperate to make it as a serious actress, she told the Evening Standard: "I don't think I ever was a ladette. I'm actually a bit of a nerd. I can't even have dinner in a low-cut top without feeling self-conscious. You try to be cool, but underneath it, I was too much of a goody-goody. It took me five years to get a bad reputation - it's going to take me 20 to get rid of it..." She and Damien welcomed daughter Freya in 2003 but broke up in 2007 amid rumours he refused to marry her. Following the split, the beauty dated Kate, Princess of Wales's brother James for four years, followed by property developer Ben Carrington. In 2013 she was touted for the Strictly Come Dancing line-up and later competed in Dancing On Ice. She continues to act and, in 2020, starred as Fi Hansen in the BBC One drama, The Split. Donna's ex Damian is well known for his conservation efforts with wild animals, and she hasn't fully dropped the lifestyle despite the breakup. In 2023, it was revealed that her daughter Freya was hand-rearing two orphan lion cubs at the family's 30-room country house in Kent. Freya, whose father runs Howletts Wild Animal Park, shared: "If anyone says the lions are domesticated, no. If anything, they lionise me. I become a lion. I speak lion. Hand-rearing is the last option possible, but I am their mother figure. It's basically like raising two children." Debbie Played by Nicola Bell, Debbie was PJ's on-off girlfriend who eventually fell in love with his best mate Duncan. Off-screen, she was in a real-life romance with Ant which ended due to the pressure of PJ & Duncan's hectic tour schedule. Ant told the Independent at the time: "When you're touring you can't have a relationship by phone. I'm terrible on the phone." Ant, who was previously married to make-up artist Lisa Armstrong for 12 years, is now married to former PA Anne-Marie Corbett, with the couple recently welcoming their first child together. Meanwhile, Nicola appeared in the legal drama Kavanagh QC before becoming a flight attendant for Virgin Atlantic. The multitalented mother-of-four from Tyne and Wear now works as a make-up artist and is also a qualified level 2 and 3 PT instructor. She's also remained good friends with her famous ex. "We're still in touch and still friends and I know that he's doing OK," she said of his rehab stay in 2017. He's had some lovely messages from people and a lot of support.'
